In the wake of the financial crisis there has been a dramatic shift toward the re-regulation of cross-border finance. Empirical evidence and advances in theory on the one hand, and country experience on the other hand, has led a number of countries to regulate the inflow and outflow of capital into their countries in order to prevent and mitigate financial crises. Indeed, perhaps the most dramatic change was in December 2012 when the International Monetary Fund, long a champion of de-regulating cross-border finance, published a new 'view' on the issue that sanctions the use of regulation in some circumstances. However, as the monetary regime has come around to being more flexible with respect to regulating global financial flows, many nations are concerned that establishing such regulation would be incompatible with their commitments in the trade and investment regime.

Kevin Gallagher (Boston University) will present evidence from his own work and from a 'compatibility review' on the subject that was carried out by the Pardee Task Force on Regulating Global Capital Flows and Elizabeth Broomfield (Cleary Gottlieb) will discuss relevant legal developments and their implications for controls on financial flows going forward.